Mad Love: Madison (38 page)

“At least you survived it,” Keith said, walking
up to them. He downed the contents of the glass in his hand and wiped his mouth
with his sleeve.

Becca and Madison exchanged a glance. From his
disheveled appearance, it appeared Keith had been celebrating a bit hard and a
bit early.

“So far,” Madison said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Keith said
sharply.

Madison’s eyebrows rose. “Just that it’s not over.”

Becca’s face clouded. “But they caught him—”

Madison shook her head. “That’s what Ethan said
before they arrested him. He said, ‘It’s not over.’”

“He’s bluffing,” Keith said.

“I don’t think so.” Madison glanced to the
window. “His friend Casey is out there, somewhere. I don’t know who I can
trust.” She reached into the silk wristlet hanging from her wrist and pulled
out her phone. “It’s Sarah,” she said walking a few feet away. She turned to
the window as she answered the phone. “Are you okay?”

She pressed her finger against her ear trying to
hear her sister over the music playing in the background. “What did you say?”

“I said, I’m not okay,” Sarah said in an annoyed
tone. “I’m sitting here at Grandpa’s with only Rory for company. Why don’t you
come and join me?”

“Grandpa’s? What are you doing over there?”

“The wedding is off. Harry got a call from some
girl who told him that she had found Hannah in bed with her fiancé. Harry stormed
up to the house. There was this huge fight. Hannah’s been crying all day.”

“Oh no.”

“Hannah’s dad said I could stay, but I thought it
was best to leave. She has her sisters and I need to be with mine.”

“That’s sweet, but I would prefer you weren’t.
I’m still in danger. Besides, I’m just going to be here at the party a few hours
before I head off to a hotel somewhere.”

“Where?”

She glanced over her shoulder. Becca and Keith
were only a few feet away. She decided to ignore the way they were whispering
to one another as they glanced her way. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “I
don’t want to say.”

Sarah’s panic came through the phone loud and
clear. “You are not going underground without me. I’ll call Ashton. You know
what she’ll do.”

“Don’t you dare sic our big sister on me. You’d
be just in as much trouble for not calling her when all this started to happen
as I would.”

“She’ll forgive me. I’m the baby of the family,
remember?”

“I don’t want you in danger.”

“I hate to break it to you, but I’m already in
danger. Let me stay with you. We can watch each other’s backs. Besides, it’s
New Year’s Eve and I’m here in this big house all by myself,” Sarah said
mournfully. There was a moment of silence before she added, “Jumping at
shadows.”

Madison tipped her head back with a sigh. “Okay,
put your best dress on.”

“Yay!”

“I’ll buy you a ticket to the party.”

“Good, I’ll be there in an hour.”

“What are you going to do about Rory?”

“Can we come back here after the party? I can
leave him here for a few hours and then we’ll get a hotel room in town.”

 “Okay, see you soon,” Madison said before
turning off the phone and tossing it into her wristlet. She turned back around.
Derek had now joined Becca and Keith. He looked at her in concern as she
approached.

“Is everything alright?” Derek asked.

“Fine,” Madison replied. “I have good news for you.
Sarah will be here soon.”

“Really?” Derek’s boyish face lit up in excitement.
“I thought she had a bachelorette party to go to?”

“It got cancelled.”

“Good.” At her bemused expression, he quickly
added, “Well, not good, of course, but I’m glad she’s coming.” His face
suddenly turned serious. “She’s not bringing those two guys again is she?”

“I sincerely hope not.”

“Good,” Derek said.

Keith rolled his eyes. “You should have told them
to take a hike. If she was my girl—”

“She’s not my girl,” Derek said quickly. “We just
had one date.”

Keith stared at the bottom of his glass.
“Whatever.” He pointed his empty glass at Madison. “She better hurry up and get
here.”

“Why?” Madison asked.

“I just heard that it was going to snow again.
They’re predicting two feet of snow by morning.” Keith motioned to a waiter
with a tray. He set his glass down and picked up a champagne flute. “Let’s get
back to the subject at hand.” He took a drink. “Mr. Ethan Parker or whatever
his name is.” His brow furrowed. “What was his real name?”

“She doesn’t want to talk about that right now,” Becca
said through gritted teeth.

“No, it’s all right,” Madison said. “His real
name is Alex Sampson.”

“I knew it.” Keith pointed his finger in her
face. “I knew there was something shady about that guy. He acted so perfect,
like he was better than everyone else and had all the girls around here falling
at his feet. So stupid.”

Becca lifted her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me,” Keith said. “It was obvious he
was a phony. I knew it from the moment I laid eyes on him.”

“No,” Becca said with a snort, “you didn’t.”

“Keith’s actually right,” Derek said softly. “Ethan
was kind of scary.”

“You’d be scared of kitten,” Keith snarled.

Derek pursed his lips together but didn’t contradict
him.

Becca shook her head at Keith. “What is wrong
with you tonight?”

Keith’s hand tightened on the glass until his
knuckles turned white. “I’m angry.”

“No? You know I couldn’t tell,” Becca said.

“It just infuriates me how easily he was able to slither
his way into our lives.” His eyes softened as he looked at Madison. “He could
have killed you. I just—” He snapped his mouth shut in annoyance as Madison’s
phone began to ring.

“Sorry,” Madison said reaching for her cell.
“It’s Sarah again.” She turned to the side as she answered her phone.

“I can’t come,” Sarah said.

“Why not?”

“My car won’t start. I’m stuck here until you
come and get me.”

“Why won’t your car start?”

“I blame the fact that it’s ten years old and has
over two hundred thousand miles on it. Are you still going to come and get me
after your party’s over?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there around one and then we’ll
take off.”

“Great!”

“Sarah, Jamie doesn’t know where you are, does
he?”

There was an audible sigh through the phone. “No,
I didn’t tell him. In fact, the only person who knows I’m here is you.”

“Good, keep it that way. I’ll see you soon.”

When she returned to her co-workers, Becca
appeared to be in the middle of cross-examining Keith.

“You’re being evasive,” Becca said.

Keith frowned. “I am not.”

“Why don’t you admit it?” Becca said. “You do
know her.”

“I’m not admitting anything because it’s not
true.”

Madison looked between them in confusion. She
leaned toward Derek. “Who are they talking about?”

“Some girl named Gina Gallagher,” he said with an
equally curious look on his face.

Becca crossed her arms. “You put her information
in the computer.”

“So what if I did.”

“That means you know her.”

“All that means is she came in to talk to me
about something. That doesn’t mean I know her.”

“Semantics,” Becca said with a scowl. “You knew
what I was asking. How did you two meet?”

“Why do you care?”

“She was working with Ethan,” Becca said in
clipped tones. “I’m curious.”

“Look, I don’t have any clients named Gina,”
Keith insisted in a bored tone.

“Ethan referred her to you.” Becca rolled her
wrist as she tried to jog his memory. “Her husband was cheating on her. He was
abusive. You met with her one day in front of Ethan’s office but she never came
by again.”

“Gina…” Keith said raising his gaze to the
ceiling. “Nope. No idea.”

Derek’s eyes narrowed. “Does she have long dark
hair? Thick black eyeliner?”

“That sounds like her,” Madison said. “Where did
you see her?”

“Ethan’s office. Keith sent me over there to ask
about GPS signals and tracking people. She was sitting on the couch in his
office when I walked in.”

“You took long enough to go talk to him,” Keith
muttered.

“I told you I’d get to it and I did,” Derek said
calmly before turning to Becca and Madison. “Keith was sitting next to her.”

“Yeah,” Keith said with a smirk, “well, when you
want something done right—”

“GPS signals?” Madison interrupted making sure to
keep her voice light.

Keith downed the rest of his drink. “I had a
client who was convinced his employer was tracking his every movement.”

“Anyway,” Derek said, “when I got there that Gina
lady was sitting in Ethan’s”—He frowned suddenly—“No, I guess I mean Alex’s
outer office talking to Keith. They seemed like old friends.”

“Really?” Madison said. She turned to Keith. “Do
you remember Gina now?”

Keith’s eyes suddenly cleared. “Yeah, she said
her rich husband was cheating on her.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing,” Keith said, staring into his drink.

Derek grinned, obviously pleased that he could
rat out the other man. “Keith rushed her out of the office and I sat down to
wait for Ethan.”

Madison bit her lip. “Ethan wasn’t there?”

“Nope, it was just Gina and Keith when I
arrived,” Derek said grinning at the other man.

Narrowing his eyes, Keith scowled back at him.

What if it was Keith?
Madison thought. She
didn’t really know him that well. He started just before Quincy disappeared.
What did Becca and Derek say a couple of days ago about Quincy and Keith?
Something about him not liking the old detective.

She looked into Keith’s eyes and felt a chill go
up her spine as well as a faint stirring of hope.
If Keith is guilty, then
Ethan is innocent,
she thought shifting her gaze to the side.
After all,
how many accomplices could a loner like Alex have? It would have to be one or
the other.
“How well did you know Gina?”

“I only met her the one time,” Keith said. “Derek
knows that. He was there when she was telling me her life story.”

Three sets of eyes stared back at him.

Derek slowly shook his head.

“I swear, I just met her. She…” Keith’s face
hardened. “Aw, forget it,” he said looking at his empty glass. “I’m going to
get another drink.”

Derek grinned as Keith walked away. “Yeah, I
don’t think they had ever met before. I was outside the door for a few minutes
listening as Keith tried to pressure her into divorcing her husband.” He
started to laugh. “She had this deer in the headlights look when Keith
practically strong-armed her into going to his office to discuss her case.”

Madison felt her heart sink. For a moment, she
had begun to question herself. Begun to trust Ethan. She lifted her hand to her
face as tears stung the back of her eyes.
Why did this have to hurt so much?

Derek instantly sobered. “I’m sorry, Madison. I
know it’s not funny. I was just…”

“It’s okay, Derek, I understand. Don’t worry, I’m
fine,” she lied, forcing a smile to her face. “Just fine. What did Gina say
when you saw her there?”

“Nothing really,” he said. “Keith did most of the
talking. When they left, I sat down to wait for Ethan. I did wonder…”

“What?” Madison asked.

“Well, Ethan’s secretary was out sick or
something.”

Becca’s brow furrowed. “So?”

“I just thought it was strange that his office
door wasn’t locked. I kept thinking he was behind the door, hiding from me.
Keith was right about one thing. Ethan was one strange guy.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Becca said.

They glanced down at Madison’s wristlet as her
phone buzzed.

“Probably Sarah again,” she said taking out her
phone.

“When will she get here?” Derek asked.

Madison frowned as a text message appeared on the
screen. “No, sorry. I forgot to tell you. She’s having car trouble and can’t
make it.” Her frown deepened as she read the message. “I have to go.”

Keith stepped up behind Becca. He took one look
at Madison’s face and stepped in close to her. “What’s wrong?”

“Sarah just sent me a text message. She said she
fell and hurt her leg.”

“How badly is she hurt?” Derek asked worriedly.
“Is she all right?”